How long for lessons?

[chovie d]

For those of you who started with lessons from a private instructor. about how long did you keep taking lessons?
Thanks-

[Tom C]

I started playing about 7 years ago at 35 years old. I took lessons faithfully for 3-4 years. It's good in that it kept me motivated to learn and be ready for the next lesson. Since Jorma Kaukonen turned my mentor into a rocker and has been on the road alot over the last 3 years with him, I still get over there once a month or so. After those first 3-4 years I started playing ALOT more with others which complimented all those lessons nicely. Now I'm holding the ball in that when I go for a lesson I have things in mind that I want to learn or improve upon. For
instance, Glendale train is a great tune, but I was having troubles playing a
break in that I was basically following the words, so he was able to help me make
it sound more bluegrassy.

[Jackie Walters]

I'm in lessons, and it's going on 2 years..Has my instructor ran out of things to teach me? NO. I'm 46 and enjoy every minute of it..Sometimes I don't catch things the first time around, and he'll cover them again maybe a month later..Hats off to ALL instructors...they have the patience of Job, and then some!
Angelfire

[James P]

I did an hour a week for the first five months. Since then I've scaled back to every other week just to give me more time to absorb the material between lessons.

[chovie d]

Thanks guys. having a hard time getting the money and time together for weekly lessons.

Teachers , what is the average length of stay for your students? Do you hate students that come every other week, once a month or even less often?

Ok maybe hate is too strong a word...hehe...I am sure you prefer regular weekly students (and income, hey who wouldnt?). Lets say annoyed by rather than hate.

[John Craton]

A good teacher will let you know when they feel you should progress on to someone else. But the problem is, the student usually doesn't know that himself, and some teachers will hang on to students forever as long as they keep getting income from them. Some teachers can only teach a student two or three years' worth of material due to their own limitations. There's nothing wrong with that (I've known some really excellent teachers who only taught beginners but did a fine job establishing those fundamental skills), but to keep a student long after exhausting their ability to help them progress is a great injustice.


Teachers , what is the average length of stay for your students? Do you hate students that come every other week, once a month or even less often?

That's really hard (for me) to answer. Many students come to me after studying with someone else for several years. And as for those I've had since they were beginners, it depends on both their age and how quickly they progress. On average, I'd say my better students usually stay with me between three and six years after coming to me around junior high age. All told the better ones will have had somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-12 years of lessons before going on to college.

As for students who only show up when they feel like it, yes that is extremely annoying. Obviously there are times when missing a lesson cannot be helped, but there are those students who just kind of appear and disappear for sundry reasons. My own studio has a policy of charging for lessons missed without advance notice, though I rarely collect on those. Recently I have been considering going to a flat monthly or semestery fee the way most dance studios do -- you pay for the lessons and it's up to you to show up or not. I'd be curious to hear from other teachers regarding how they handle this. One of these days something's gotta give http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[Ken Sager]

I've had to ask for a month's lessons paid in advance just so everybody shows up. Nobody complains. A couple students ask to pay weekly, and do so faithfully so I don't complain, either. I also have a couple students who take bi-weekly and monthly lessons. It's harder to coordinate, but they're working hard and are making improvements so it has its rewards for all of us. I couldn't do a flat monthly rate, but it would be nice.

[chuck.naill]

If I could offer some perspectives on adult education, Adults need to know the why in addition to the information. I have done a little research in the way adults learn and since we have information to compare new information with, we need that background. Finding an instructor that understands that the adult is not the same as the 8 year olds will go along way in making the lesson more efficient and productive. If you are not getting that information or help you need remember that your parents are not paying for the lesson so you can and should go somewhere else. Also, adults should be understanding that their monthly lesson fees are someones elses income. Please be respectful. If you cannot afford to spend the money search out alternatives like group sessions at collegs, etc.

Also, as an adult we are in the position to change teachers if we desire. I once changed three times in two years. Nothing was wrong with them, but I was changing in the direction that I was headed so the change made sense. I learned valuable information from each.

The other thing that progessed my learning was the ability to go and buy music to listen to and to attend concerts of the music I was interested in. ONe teacher encouraged me to learn to play what I hear. I learned what a chord played in the c of g position sounded like. Things started to make sense the more I listened.

WDVX.COM is a local station here in Knoxville. They play lots of acoustic music. You can listen and play along if you cannot afford to buy the music. However, consider making a tax deductable donation, since this is a non commercial station.

Lastly, I found that the recorders that slow the music down and has a pitch adjustment was so helpful.


Regards,

Chuck

[metalmandolin]

I teach string instruments (mando being my specialty)here in East Tennessee. My clientele spans about an eighty-mile radius.
I charge a flat fee per month, which breaks down to a weekly fee for sporadic students. I will only honor make-ups that I miss, or those incurred by a trustworthy student. I also do not accept partial fees.
My setup is very flexible, and geared toward the prospective student's individual needs. Typically, it is a 1/2 hour per week, same time per week scenario. I do have students that come bi-weekly for 1 hour lessons, and monthly for 2 hour marathons.
I do not turn down a serious student/paying customer because of schedule discrepancy or financial hardship. I will do one 30 minute lesson per month, or in general what the customer wants...they are always right in my business, too.
The only stipulation for the sporadic student is that I cannot tie up a potential lesson time that could be filled full-time. For example, let's say that on Monday my schedule is to begin at 11:00 AM and end at 7:30 PM. the "one-off" student would then be offered 10:30 AM or 8:00 PM.
I also offer a once-a-month group lesson at a known gathering place for pickers. It is one Saturday morning per month for 2 hours. In this time, students are encouraged to pick (jam) together, and tutored by me on the handling of music in a group situation, since I play all the BG instruments. There is no charge for the group lesson, but if you missed lessons, this is your make-up. If I missed, private lesson re-schedule is honored.
I know this has ended up sounding like a commercial for my services, but most of you don't live in this area anyway...I just wanted to share how I do things. My business is 9 years strong now!! You can do it, too.

[randolin]

Having taught acoustic instruments for thirty years, it is my opinion that in terms of progress, a lesson is only valuable if the student has time to practice what he is being taught... so once a week or once a month depends on available time, but it is far more valuable in terms of MOTIVATION to take a once a week lesson... I think if lessons are laid out correctly a week should be ample time for a student to get on top of things enought to trigger the next step.